Laminated trim panel



June 23, 1942. Y P. R. zlNsER MMINATED` TRIM PANELl INVENTOR. 1 Pau/ Z n ser .Fgled March 27, 1957 ATT RNEY5.

-through the stitch apertures.

Patented June 23, 1942 Y LAMINATED TRIM PANEL Paul R. Zinser,vDet1 tit, Mich., assigner to Wood.

all Industries Incorporated, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application March 27, 1937, Serial No.133,291

' 1v claim. (o1. 154-453) My invention relates to improvements in upholstered laminated trim panels.A Panels of the type to which my invention pertains are particularly adapted for use as trim panels in the interior of closed automobile bodies.

Such a panel comprises generally a foundation board, wadding overlying one face of the board and upholstery trim material overlying the Wedding. The trim material may be fabric, artificial leather, or any other suitable upholstery trim.

To give such a panel an upholstered, padded or tufted appearance it has heretofore been common practice to stitch the trimV cloth through the wadding to the foundation board along 'a line outlining an uncompressed Varea' lof wadding.

Along the line of stitching the wadding was com-.

pressed against the board dening the uncompressed area. This practice possessed the disadvantage of weakening the board along the line of stitching and of opening up the interior of the board to the entrance of moisture thereinto As it was common practice to treat such panel boards' so as to render their surfaces moisture resistant the opening up of the interior of the board to the ingress' of moisture was particularly undesirable. The stitching also added to the time and expense of fabrication.

My invention involves the compression of the wadding along a line dening an intended embossment and the permanent adhesive securement of the wadding in such compressed state along said line and the adhesive securement of the trim cloth tofthe wadding along such compressed line. 4This-permanent adhesive securement of the wadding in the compressed state along the line of compression is obtained by saturation of the wadding along the line of compression concurrently with the compression thereof.

Saturation is with a thermoplastic adhesive.v

By thermoplastic I mean adhesive which is fusible or rendered iiuid under the eiect of heat. This thermoplastic adhesive secures the trim cloth to the wadding and adhesively secures the wedding compacted together along the compressed saturated line of wadding. I do not here make any distinction between a thermoplastic (repeatedly fusible) and thermosetting (set- Y ting up followingfusing so as not to again fuse upon heating) adhesive. Either type may be used. The word thermoplastic as I employ it throughout the specification refers to either type.

The necessary qualification here is that the adhesive be heat fusible for the purpose desired.

A further object is to provide the thermoplastic Y adhesive in the form ofstrips, of sheet material.V

These strips are larranged, oneV disposed under the wadding between the Wadding and the foundation boardand one between the wadding and the trim material eachalong the line of intended compression and adhesion.

The employment of the thermoplastic strips insures uniform saturation ofthe wadding along the line desired for saturation compression andl adhesion and confines the saturation along each such line within the` width of the Vstrip and prevents saturation beyond the longitudinal margins of the strips. As the strips are uniform in width and thickness the saturation of the Wadding is uniform along the line of Vintended compression vvand adhesion. l y The several laminations which make up a complete panel or panel sub-assembly, whichever is being fabricated, is then subjected to a hot die vstamping operation which compacts the wadding' along the line of the strips'and fuses the stripsv to saturate the w'adding throughout along said compacted'line to adhesively holdV the wadding com,- pacted along the line of saturation and secure the trim cloth through the wadding to the foundation or backing. Y'

If the complete panel is being fabricated, it comprises the' foundation board, wadding, trim cloth, and two thermoplastic strips correspondingly disposed on opposite sides of the wedding. If the subassembly is being fabricated the foundation panel board will be omitted. A relatively thin backing may be substituted for such panel board or the thermoplastic'strips may have a permanent structural character and form backingi strips and any other backing may be omitted.

appear from the following specification, appended claim, and accompanying drawing, wherein: Y

Figure 1 is anvelevationof a-fragment of a panel assembly embodying my invention,

Fig. 2y is across-sectional'viewtaken 'on liner 3--iloi1='ig.1,V

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional View taken Yon the same line as Fig. 2 .through a modified form cf construction, and Y Fig. 4 is a :cross-sectional view vthrough a panel Y sub-assembly embodying myA invention.

In Fig.1 the three layers, namely, the foundation board' l0, the wadding l2 and the trim cloth Other objects, advantages, and meritoriousv characteristics'of my invention will more fully I4, are the'only laminations which are Visible. The adhesive thermoplastic strips are not shown in such figure. In Fig. 2, which? is a cross sectional view taken on 2-2 of Fig. 1, thermoplastic strips are indicated as I6. One strip is positioned between the Wadding and the foundation board. AThe other strip is correspondingly positioned between the wadding and the trim cloth. Upon' thislaminated assembly being subjected to the heat and pressure of the die'in a stamping press the thermoplastic strip material is fused along the line of pressure and heat and rendered fluid and flows through the wadding and saturates or impregnates the Wadding so that the wadding is saturated throughout along such line asindicated at I1. Under .the pressure of the die the wadding is compacted along such line and the trim cloth is pressed thereagainst.. The trim cloth is adhesively secured to the Wad- `ding and the other foundation board through the wadding and the wadding` is adhesively secured compacted together along the line of comk pression.

agrar/,159

4these elements are those used in Fig. 2. In this construction thermoplastic strip may be a loosely woven fabric strip heavily saturated with a thermoplastic adhesive. Such a strip is herel'inafter described. In this type of construction the pad is shown as embossed separate and apart from the foundation board and the embossed InV Fig. 3-on1y one thermosplastic adhesive Y strip I6 is provided. This strip is positioned between the w'adding andthe trim cloth. In response to the vheat and pressure of the die the fluid'adhesiye is forceddownthrough the wadding to secure the same compacted against the foundation board and to attach the trimV-cloth thereto along such compacted line.

This line of compression and adhesion is pr'eferably of less width Vthan the width of the ther- -moplastic strip. This strip material is preferably normally flexible. The strip extends in both directions normally away from the line of adhesion in flexible strip form overlying the wad- Y l i ding underneath the trim cloth. It forms a selfform sustaining protective element which assistsJ in giving the proper contour -and shape to the embossed' design defined by the lines of com p'ressio'n. The strip may be of homogeneous thermoplastic material made up in sheet form and cut into stripsY or it may comprise astrip of fabric saturated with a thermoplastic adhesive.

If the strip comprises an adhesive saturated fabric strip it 'is preferable that the fabric be loosely woven so as to carry a substantial quantity of thermo fusible adhesive. Scrim,4 burlap. cheesecloth, netting or the like may .constitute this sheet material. This material is saturated until the interstices are filled with the adhesive.

'I'here are suitable thermoplastic materials not available in sheet form but these can be used with the fabric to saturate the same and provide thereby a suitable thermoplastic strip.

As two corresponding strips are preferably used as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 one below the Wadding and one abovethe wadding, one stripY may be an adhesive saturated strip of relatively tough and heavy material such as calendered burlap and the other strip may be a relatively A.so

.' bossed pad.

pad may be spread over one face of the board and adhesively secured thereto.v It would not therefore be necessary to use a board capable of being embossed but an ordinary kfiber Vboard might be employed as a foundation for this emy There is anumber of thermop'lastic adhesive materials or compounds which may be used for the thermoplastic strips or4 as saturants for the fabric strips if a fabric strip'is used as the structural base of the thermoplastic strip. Different thermoplastic resinous compounds or other heat fusible adhesives may beremployed. It isl only necessary that the adhesive possess certain desirable characteristics. n y Y f.

It is the purpose here to employ'the adhesive in sheet form either as a homogeneous structure made up entirely of the thermoplastic resinous compound or as a fabricstrip saturated with the thermoplastic adhesive. The thermoplastic adhesive compound must be heat fusible to adhesively secure the 'laminations together under theeffect of heat. It is rendered fluid under the effect of heat to flow into and through the wadding and upon compression of the wadding concurrently with the saturation it adhesively holds `the. wadding compacted. The adhesivel strip must ybe fusible within a temperature` range above maximum atmospheric Vtemperatures and below a temperature which would be injurious to the material ofthe panel for the time period to which it would be subjected-to heat during its` fabrication. The temperature rangev to which the laminated structure is subjected in the die stamping operationjmay varyV from 140 to 450 F. The dwell of the die may vary from a fraction of a second to three seconds. y

Being, otherwise suitable, the thermoplastic adhesive may bevof a reversible or irreversible char'- acter. That is, it may be repeatedly fusible or it may be of a kthermo setting l.nature as hereinabove referred to. It should be resistant to water or any other commonly used cleaning compounds, suchas benzine or carbon tetrachloride. It may not be insoluble in all these cleaning compounds light flexible material such as an open weave netting. The saturated burlap, tough, heavy, and strong, is preferably disposed underneath the wadding. The corresponding strip of flexible light weight saturated netting is preferably disposed above the wadding underneathv the trim cloth.

Such a construction may be employed to provide a sub-assembly orpad as shownin Fig. 4. Thev wadding and trim cloth with the light weight flexible adhesivesaturated strip therebetween and the correspondingly disposed heavy adhesive saturated strip below the wedding may but it should be resistant thereto, considering the manner in which such cleaning liquids are vcommonly applied to panels to clean them. Y

An example of' a reversible thermoplastic resinous material,` which though soluble in certainy cleaning compounds is not unsatlsfactorily so under normal cleaning conditions, is the hydrogen chlorinatedrubber compound marketed commerciallyfunder the trade nameiof MarbonJ This material may be' used in flexible strip form or as a saturant for a fabric strip. It has a melting point within the temperature range desired'and possesses the desired adhesive characteristic.

Another example of a reversible thermoplastic adhesive is 'the resinous material marketed commercially under the trade name of VinyliteJ This material is a polymerization-product of vinyl acetate or vinyl chloride. It may be obtained either in flexible strip form or as a saturant for a fabric strip. This product possesses the further advantage of being substantially insoluble in the commonly used liquid cleaning preparations. An example of an irreversible thermoplastic adhesive is zinc chloride urea formaldehyde which in Water solution may be used to saturate a suitably absorbent fabric sheet to make up the desired thermoplastic saturated fabric strips. This resinous product might be obtained the wadding only along the line of heat and compression and elsewhere the wadding will retain its desired iluffy padded state.

What I claim:

A laminated embossed trim assembly comprising a layer of absorbent fibrous wadding, a layer of trim material overlying one surface of the wadding, strips of loosely woven fibrous sheet material saturated with a thermoplastic adhesive overlying corresponding portions of opposite surfacessof the-wadding, one of said strips being relatively light weightand ilexible and disposed t between the wadding and the trim material, the

in plasticized form if greater flexibility is found other strip being relatively heavy and self form sustaining and adapted to assume and perma-V nently retain an embossed design, said laminated assembly being embossed and compacted together along the median longitudinal line of said strips spaced between the longitudinal margins of the strips, said wadding being held adhesively compacted together along said line between said strips by adhesive ilowed from the strips onto the wadding along said line, said trim material being adhesively held along said compacted line to the wadding, said strips serving to give form and contour to the wadding and trinrmaterial extending away from opposite sides of the compacted line. t Y PAUL R. ZINSER. 

